The Internet is a global system of interconnected computers and computer networks that use a standard Internet protocol suite (e.g., the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP)) to communicate with each other. The Internet of Things (IoT) is based on the idea that everyday objects, not just computers and computer networks, can be readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable, and controllable via an IoT communications network (e.g., an ad-hoc system or the Internet).
A number of market trends are driving development of IoT devices. For example, increasing energy costs are driving governments' strategic investments in smart grids and support for future consumption, such as for electric vehicles and public charging stations. Increasing health care costs and aging populations are driving development for remote/connected health care and fitness services. A technological revolution in the home is driving development for new “smart” services, including consolidation by service providers marketing ‘N’ play (e.g., data, voice, video, security, energy management, etc.) and expanding home networks. Buildings are getting smarter and more convenient as a means to reduce operational costs for enterprise facilities.
There are a number of key applications for the IoT. For example, in the area of smart grids and energy management, utility companies can optimize delivery of energy to homes and businesses while customers can better manage energy usage. In the area of home and building automation, smart homes and buildings can have centralized control over virtually any device or system in the home or office, from appliances to plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) security systems. In the field of asset tracking, enterprises, hospitals, factories, and other large organizations can accurately track the locations of high-value equipment, patients, vehicles, and so on. In the area of health and wellness, doctors can remotely monitor patients' health while people can track the progress of fitness routines.
Accordingly, in the near future, increasing development in IoT technologies will lead to numerous IoT devices surrounding a user at home, in vehicles, at work, and many other locations. As more and more devices become network-aware, the threat of nefarious access to such devices and to private networks comprising these devices will grow. The IoT makes the functionality of devices within a home accessible from outside the home (and outside a private network). This creates security and privacy implications for users who on the one hand want the convenience of being able to raise the thermostat on the heating system when heading home, access a security camera from work, or check on gas/water leaks while on vacation, but do not want an attacker to be able to do the same. This is because each IoT device presents an access point to the network for nefarious users, and thus each new device creates a further potential chink in a secure network's armor.
Existing systems for interconnecting IoT devices to the Internet require IoT devices and a gateway that are pre-configured for connection to each other. If an IoT device is added to a home that is not pre-configured to talk to the gateway (e.g., adding a WeMo light switch to a typical Wi-Fi enabled home network), then the IoT device will not be able to participate in the private network without manual configuration. While manual configuration may be possible for sophisticated users (and a different configuration may be required for each device having a different manufacturer), as the number of IoT devices in a home or business increases, the burden and complexity of manually adding all these devices to the private network may become overly burdensome if not impossible.
Thus, there is a need for secure systems and methods to allow restricted access to IoT devices from the public Internet or other public networks, and further to enable system-agnostic IoT devices to join and leave a private network without manual configuration of network settings for each device.